To celebrate Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, we’re having a sale on our plastic playing cards! Save $3.49 on a two-deck set of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards now through Monday, November 30. Order today before this deal ends!

We’ve just launched our first project on Kickstarter! We want to bring the quality and durability of our cards to those that prefer bridge-size cards, which is narrower than the poker-size cards we offer now. They also feature completely redesigned artwork on the face cards!

If you like what we do here at Denexa, please take a look at the project page and consider becoming a backer. You’ll get a set of these cards before anyone else, and you’ll be helping us move forward to bigger, more awesome things. If you can’t do that thing, please tell one of your friends or share this post with them to help us get the word out. We really depend on your help to make this happen. Thank you so much!

One of the most frustrating things about poker to new players is learning the hands and the order they rank in. Now, you can help your newer players with our new Rank of Poker Hands Poster! This poster makes an excellent addition to your card room, and is priced at only $5.99. Your players will appreciate it!

Many sets of higher-end playing cards, including Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards, include two decks of cards—a red deck and a blue deck. But most card games require the use of only one 52-card deck. So why offer two decks?

The answer is simple—it makes your game more efficient! While you are using one deck to deal a hand, the next player to deal can be shuffling the other deck. That way, when the hand concludes, the next hand can be dealt immediately, without having to wait for a shuffle. The backs of the cards are in contrasting colors in case cards from the two decks get intermingled; it is obvious when a deck is incorrect.

The next time you spread a game, try keeping both decks of cards moving around the table if you don’t already. You’ll be happy with how much faster the game moves!

It can take time for someone who is used to handling paper cards to get used to plastic cards. One of the main problems people have when adjusting to plastic cards is managing the slipperiness of the cards. A specific problem that a lot of people encounter is squaring up the deck in a nice pile on the table. The top card will, seemingly of its own volition, try to slide off the top of the deck.

Fortunately, this is an easy problem to counteract. All you have to do is press down on the top card with your index finger as you’re setting the deck on the table. This forces the air out from between the cards, increasing friction between them. The cards will stay in a nice, neat, squared-up pack, with the top card remaining exactly where it should.

Over time, a deck of playing cards will spend much of its life in contact with either a table or players’ hands. Neither of these are particularly clean: tables often have dirt and food residue on them, and human hands usually have at least a layer of skin oil on them, if not more dirt. All of this nastiness has a tendency to end up on your cards.

Paper cards tend to absorb the dirt and oils, to the point where eventually they simply have to be replaced. Since Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards are not porous, the gunk just sits on the surface of the card. Under some conditions, top-layer inks (which are not as well-bonded as those closer to the card surface) can also be displaced from the backs of the cards and settle around the edges of the cards, forming a patina that looks like a fuzzy haze of red or blue on the face of the cards. A dirty deck of cards can usually be identified by the presence of this patina and slight stickiness during game play.

Fortunately, it’s easy to restore your cards to like-new condition. You just have to clean them! Fill the kitchen sink with warm water—not too hot, as hot water may warp the plastic—and add a mild dish soap. We found that Dawn® Antibacterial Soap works well. Dump the whole deck of cards into the sink. Then, use a soft towel—a microfiber towel works well—to clean the surface of the cards, especially near the heavily-handled edges, where the patina and skin oils tend to build up. Don’t use abrasive soaps, like those containing pumice, or an abrasive cleaning tool, as these may damage the surface of the cards. Run the cards under cool water to rinse off the soap, then dry them off with a paper towel, or leave them sitting on a bath towel until the water dries. Don’t use a heater or hair dryer to speed drying.

After the cards are dry, you should notice that your cards handle much better, and with much less stickiness! It’s probably a good idea to verify them before putting them away to make sure that you didn’t lose any cards during the cleaning process.

About this blog

This blog is a product of Denexa Games. Here, you'll find the rules to many card games, both popular and obscure, as well as advice for hosting your own home game night, plus etiquette tips to keep your games running smoothly. We also share news about the company that you'll hopefully find interesting.

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